Efrem Kamen

Efrem Kamen is the Managing Member at Pura Vida Investments, a life sciences investment firm he co-founded in 2012. The firm has significant investments across the healthcare universe, including Medical Technology, Life Science Tools and Biotechnology. Pura Vida’s flagship fund has had award-winning performance since its inception, including winning 2021 Best Long Term 5-Year Performance, 2019 Best Long/Short Manager, 2019 Best Specialist Equity Manager and 2018 Best US Emerging Fund Manager for Global Equities, all as awarded by HFM Global (Absolute Return) and Pension Bridge.  

Efrem is an Associate Professor (adjunct)at Columbia Business School, where he created and teaches a course on investing in medical technology and is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia Engineering School. Efrem is a board member of the Global Vitiligo Foundation. Efrem is an advisor to the What If Foundation. Efrem is a member of the Presidents Circle at the Bowery Mission and is partnered The Skatepark Project, and the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Efrem is also a Director of the National Cannabis Roundtable, an industry trade association focused on federal cannabis reform.   

Efrem is a Venture Partner at Press-On ventures.  He serves as an advisor to Neufit and is passionate about all things fitness.  Efrem is the founder of 1.618 Longevity and serves a personal trainer in his spare time.   

Prior to founding Pura Vida, Efrem was a Portfolio Manager at Waterfront Capital Partners and an Analyst at Diamondback Capital Management, LLC. Prior to joining Diamondback, he was an Analyst at Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group, responsible for medical device investments. Earlier in his career, Efrem held positions of increasing responsibility as an Equity Research Analyst covering medical device companies at Cowen Group, Inc. and then Citigroup, where he also conducted due diligence for public offerings and other transactions. Efrem began his career in Investment Banking at JP Morgan. Efrem received a B.A. with Honors from Columbia College in New York, majoring in Economics and Linguistics.